Safety-envelop.



c. N LOVEN.

SAFETY ENVELOP.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1915.

1,173,446. Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

Car/ N. Love/1 THE COLUMBIA PLArflcGRAPn c0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

0 N LOVEN SAFETY ENVELOP.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1915.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

2 SHEETS SHEET 2.

Carl N. Love/z CARL N. LOVEN, F ABERDEEN, WASHINGTON.

SAFETY-ENVELOP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1916.

Application filed April 7, 1915. Serial No. 19,646.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL N. LOVEN, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of Aberdeen, in

the county of Chehalis and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Envelops, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in envelops of such character as make it impossible to open the envelop without destroying some portion of the seal in such manner that the fact of opening the envelop cannot be concealed. The device may therefore be called a safety envelop, as it prevents the possibility of tampering there with without this resulting in leaving clear evidence of such tampering.

The object of this invention is therefore to contribute to the safety and security of the contents.

The particular features of which my invention consists will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

The accompanying drawings show my invention in the forms of construction which are now preferred by me.

Figure 1 is a view of the back face of my type of envelop in its sealed condition. Fig. 2 is a section of the flap of my envelop, showing the manner of placing the securing or locking string, the flap and its parts being unfolded, or in the condition which 35 they would occupy in the process of manufacture. Fig. 3 shows a portion of the flap and body of the envelop in the condition which it would occupy when the envelop was finished and ready for use. Fig. 4 40 shows in perspective an envelop with the flap sections unfolded, this having a single sealing connection by the use of a string. Fig. 5 is a similar View in which the string is so placed as to secure a double seal.

I prefer, with this type of construction, to make the flap of the envelop of rectangular shape, as a more effective seal may be secured with this shape of flap. My method of sealing the envelop may, however, be 50 employed upon other shapes of flaps. The

sealing agent employed is a string'which is secured in the body of the envelop back, and which extends therefrom through the flap in such manner that when the flap is folded 55 into closed position and the loose end of the string is pulled taut, the string will beheld by a loop thereof in such manner that it cannot be pulled backward, and therefore the envelop cannot be opened without tearing the string loose from the envelop at some point. As the string is passed through the flap of the envelop and the location of this is at the outer edge of the flap, it will be desirable and in many cases necessary to reinforce this edge of the envelop, which I i have indicated in Figs. l and 5 by the narrow strip 1, which is secured by gumming to the outer edge of the flap.

In the single lock construction, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4:, one end of string 6 is secured to the envelop back at 7, the inner end of this being provided with a knot to prevent its pulling out, or in any other convenient way fastened to the envelop back at the inner surface thereof.

In Fig. 4 I have shown by dotted lines a small reinforcing square 70. The string extending from this point passes over the outer edge of the flap through a hole 14 from the outer to the inner surface of the flap, thence again over the outer edge of the flap, and from the outer to the inner surface through a hole 5 in the reinforcing strip 1. The string then passes through a hole A in the same strip to the outer surface, thus forming a loop in the string, lying upon the inner surface of the flap. The string is then passed through hole 2 to the inner surface of the flap, and thence under the loop 50. In certain types the end of the string may then be extended free therefrom, but in other cases it is desirable to pass the string again through a hole 3 to the outer surface of the flap, then over the outer edge of the flap, and back through a hole 8 formed in the section 13 of the flap, by which it isconnected to the body of the envelop.

The envelop as shown in Fig. 4 is shown in the condition which would be found during the process of manufacture. In some cases the envelop might be delivered for use in this condition, but in order to make the envelop more secure, I prefer to fold the flap along the lines between the sections 11, 12 and 13, or as it is shown in Fig. 8, and then to place a sealing medium, as for instance, a small wafer 15, or a portion of wax, so as to secure the folded portion of the flap in the position shown in Fig. 3. IVhen folding the flap into this position the loose end of the string should be drawn upon so as to take up the unnecessary slack. When so folded the outer surface of the outermost section 11 will be placed in face contact with the inner surface of the inner section 13, the hole 3 in the outermost flap, through which the string passes, and the hole 8 in the innermost flap being placed so that they will register. The string will then pass directly through these two holes to the outer side of the flap. A sufiicient amount of slack should be left in the portion 6 of the string which connects the flap with thebody of the envelop so that the contents of the envelop may be inserted. After the contents have been placed Within the envelop, the flap is folded over into the position shown in Fig. l, and the loose end of the string drawn to take up all slack.-

Inspection of the locking device, consisting of the loops 20 and 50 formed in the string, will show thatthe outer free end of the string is passed under a short loop formed in the string between said parts 20 and the body of the envelop. So long as there is any slack in the string, a pull applied to the end thereof will cause the string to slide freely through the holes in the flap. If, however, it is attempted to pull the string through these holes by pulling from the secured end at 7 or at any point between this and the loop 50, the strain on the string will cause it to grip the loose end and prevent its being pulled backward.

If it is desired that the flap be secured at more than one point this may be done in the manner shown in Fig. 5, wherein one end of the string is secured at the point 9 in the reinforced outer edge of the flap. From this point the string will extend along the inner surface of the flap to and through a hole 90 formed in the line of thefold be tween the sections 12 and 13 of the flap, and thence about the edge of the flap to and through a hole 16 formed in the back of the flap, in such position as to'register with the hole 90 when the envelop is in sealed condition. The string then extends within the envelop across to a similar hole 17, where it comes out, passes about the edge of the envelop, and through a hole 91, located in the same fold as the hole 90, and in position to register with the hole 17 when the envelop is in sealed condition. At this point the sealing string passes from the outer to the inner surface of the flap, and thence over the outer edge thereof, and is reeved through the holes 5, 4:, 2 and 3 in the manner before described. The manner of sealing this envelop is the same as has been before described.

An envelop provided with the sealing string placed as shown in Fig. 5, when sealed would present a back appearance such as shown in Fig. 1. WVhen sealed the free end of the string would be clipped at the point 18, where it emerges from the edge of the envelop. The only other place where the string would show would be at the holes 16 and ,17, where it connects the edges of the folded flap with the back of the envelop. An envelop so sealed would be easy to open as it would only be necessary to pull up the folded edge of the flap. This would tear the string loose from the back of the envelop, and in doing this would give unmistakable evidence of its having been opened. It is impossible to open the envelop by any other means than by pulling loose the attachment of the string with the back of the envelop. It is therefore impossible to open it without this fact being made very evident. Ifdesired the string, after passing under the loop 50 might be carried free to one side, and folded between the two sections 11 and 12. In such case the string would pass out the ends of these folds instead of through the edge at the hole 8.. The principle of securing the envelop would, however, be the same.

Having now described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A safety envelop comprising a body and a flap secured thereto, and having a string secured in the body of the back and passing thence to and a plurality of times through the outer margin of the flap to form a loop therein and then between said loop and the adjacent surface of the flap.

2. A safety envelop comprising a body and a flap secured thereto, and having a reinforcement at its outer margin provided with three holes therethrough, a string secured to the body of the back and passing thence successively through two of the holes of the said reinforcement to form a loop and then through the third hole'and between the loop therein and the adjacent surface of the flap.

3. A safety envelop comprising a body 3 and a flap secured thereto, and having a string secured in the body of the back and passing thence to and a plurality of times through the outer margin of the flap to form a loop therein, and then between the said loop and the adjacent surface of the flap and finally through the flap from its inner to its outer side.

4. A safety envelop comprising a body H and a flap secured thereto, and having a' through the outer margin of the sealing flap to form a loop and then under said loop, the flap being folded to hide the loop and the end of the string passed outside the folds.

6. A safety envelop comprising a body and a flap secured thereto, and having a string secured in the body of the back and passing thence to and a plurality of times through the outer margin of the flap to form a loop and then under said loop, the flap being folded to turn said loop inside and the folds being secured to the base portion of the flap.

7. An envelop comprising a body and having a sealing flap secured thereto and creased to fold lengthwise to form three sections, a string secured in the body of the back passing thence through said flap from the outside in, thence twice through the margin of the outer of said sections to form a loop therein, and then under said loop.

8. An envelop comprising a body and having a sealing flap secured thereto and creased to fold lengthwise to form three sections, a string secured in the body of the back, passing thence through said flap from the outside in, the hole through which the string passes being placed to register when the envelop is sealed, with the hole in the body of the envelop through which the string passes, thence through the margin of the outer of said sections to form a loop therein, and then under said loop.

9. An envelop comprising a body and having a sealing flap secured thereto, said flap being composed of outer, inner, and a central section creased to fold one upon the other, a string secured in the body of the back and passing out through a hole there- Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the in, thence from the outside in through a hole in said flap positioned to register with the hole in the body when the envelop is sealed, thence successively through holes in the outer section to form a loop, then under said loop, then passing from the inside of said flap out.

10. An envelop comprising a body and having a sealing flap secured thereto, said flap being composed of outer, inner, and a central section creased to fold one upon the other, a string secured in the body of the back and passing out through a hole therein, thence from the outside in through a hole in said flap located in the fold line joining the inner and central sections, and positioned to register with the hole in the body when the envelop is sealed, thence successively through holes in the outer section to form a loop, then under said loop, thence passing from the inside of said flap out.

11. A saftey envelop comprising a body and a flap secured thereto, and having a string secured upon the inner surface of the body of the back, and passing outwardly through the back, thence through the flap from its outer surface inwardly, thence successively through the flap outwardly from the first location to form a loop on the inner surface of the flap and then under said loop, the flap in sealing being folded to bring the first-mentioned point of passage of the string through the flap at the edge of the folded flap and in line with the point where the string emerges from the back.

Signed at Seattle, Wash, this 2nd day of April, 1915.

CARL N. LOVEN.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

